The Judges v. the DEA

Suzanne Wills, Drug Policy Observer

April, 2007

Researchers have complained for many years that the National Institute on Drug Abuse would not release marijuana from its crop at the University of Mississippi for research that might demonstrate the benefits of the drug. NIDA’s 12 acre plot is the only legal source of marijuana in the United States. Researchers have access to private supplies of every other drug.

In early 2001, Dr. Lyle Craker, a professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an expert on the cultivation of medicinal plants, applied for a Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA] license to produce marijuana for federally-approved research in a privately funded facility. Both Senators from Massachusetts wrote letters to the DEA in support of Dr. Craker’s application. The DEA ignored his application for over 3 years. Finally Dr. Craker and his backers sued the DEA charging “unreasonable delay.” The lawsuit forced DEA to issue its ruling. It rejected Dr. Craker’s license application saying it “would not be consistent with public interest.” He submitted an appeal for a DEA Administrative Law Judge hearing which was held.

In February, 2007, Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner issued her ruling in an 88 page opinion. Here are some excerpts. “The existing supply of marijuana is not adequate…” “Competition in the manufacture of marijuana for research purposes is inadequate.” Making additional supplies available “would be in the public interest.”

“This ruling is a victory for science, medicine and the public good,” Dr. Craker said. “I hope that the DEA abides by the decision and grants me the opportunity to do my job unimpeded by drug war politics.”

Dr. Craker has hope but no assurance.

During the 1980s another DEA Administrative Law Judge, Francis Young, studied marijuana for two years before ruling on a rescheduling petition. His opinion was as emphatic as Judge Bittner’s. "Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man." "It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance." "The cannabis plant considered as a whole has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, there is no lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision and it may lawfully be transferred from Schedule I to Schedule II [available by prescription]. The judge recommends that the Administrator transfer cannabis."

The DEA ignored Judge Young’s recommendation. Cannabis remains on Schedule I, unavailable for medical use under federal law. The DEA might also ignore Judge Bittner.